Author: Christine

“Angels We Have Heard on High” is an English translation from French by James Chadwick (hymnary.org). Taken from the scriptures found in Luke 2:8-15.

Angels, God’s messengers. Proclaiming the Good News that the Savior, who is Christ the Lord, is born this day in Bethlehem. Shepherds. Hard working men. Caring for their flocks of sheep. Day and night. A nighttime worship service. A multitude of angels praising God. ““Glory to God in highest heaven,  and peace on earth to those with whom God is pleased. (Luke 2:14) Shepherds, after going to Bethlehem and seeing with their own eyes the baby lying in the manger, returned to their fields glorifying and praising God for all they had seen and heard. The Good News was proclaimed and heaven and earth worshipped God. “God’s glory was returning to earth in the person of His Son(John 1:14). That lowly manger was a Holy of Holies because Jesus was there!” (Warren Wiersbe)

When we sing “Angels We Have Heard on High” are you remembering Luke 2:8-15? As we sing about the birth of our Savior, let us worship with hearts full of praise, giving all glory to God. Thanking Him for sending His Son, Jesus, who is Christ the Lord!

1. Angels we have heard on high,
Sweetly singing o’er the plains,
And the mountains in reply
Echoing their joyous strains.

Refrain:
Gloria in excelsis Deo.
Gloria in excelsis Deo.

2. Shepherds, why this jubilee?
Why your joyous strains prolong?
What the gladsome tidings be
Which inspire your heavn’ly song? [Refrain]

3. Come to Bethlehem and see
Him whose birth the angels sing.
Come, adore on bended knee
Christ the Lord, the newborn King. [Refrain]*

*hymnary.org

Do you know a fixer? Someone who is a Jack of all trades and can fix anything. Or there is a problem and the fixer wants to provide the solution-all is well. Mankind had a problem in the garden. The fruit. Disobedience. Cast out. Now what? How do we fix this? Man couldn’t solve the problem. Satan wasn’t the fixer though he wanted them to think he was. God had the solution. He provided the answer. The problem was fixed. Jesus, the Son of God, born of a virgin, became the perfect blood sacrifice that remedied the separation of God and man.

Jesus is the Fixer. Man cannot redeem himself. Cannot do enough good to be in a right relationship with God. We have to go through Jesus. The Fixer fixed our problem. We are sinners in need of a Savior. He alone offers the free gift of salvation. As believers, we live a life desiring to please Him. How? By keeping our eyes fixed on Jesus. “A fixed disposition of trust in the Lord brings a peace that the wicked can never know.” J. MacArthur

As we go through this Christmas season, let us remember why the Messiah came to earth in the first place. As we lift our voices up in song, let us keep our mind fixed on our Savior as we sing, “Joy to the world. The Lord has come. Let earth receive her King. Let every heart prepare Him room. Let heaven and nature sing.”

One car. Six adults. Six voices. One destination. Does the driver listen to the native voices who know the way but disagree on the best route? Does the driver listen to the GPS calling out directions? Finally, the driver focused on one voice in the car and made it to the destination quickly, calmly and without incident.

How many times in our own lives do we find ourselves needing to make a decision , a change. We ask friends, family, co-workers for advice. We may get conflicting answers. Whose voice do we listen to? Many voices, multiple opinions, one decision. Have we stopped to pray? To meditate on God’s word? To listen to the One voice that matters, whose direction and will we seek?

As Christians, we make many decisions throughout the day. Go here. Go there. Do this. Do that. From the minutiae to the massive, life brings many decisions of jobs, marriage, family. We need to hear from our Shepherd. He knows us. He sees us. He hears us. He cares for us. Let us make sure we are the sheep of His pasture, listening to the voice of our Shepherd. He leads, guides and directs our path when we listen to His voice. Is His voice the loudest voice you hear?

John 10:27-29 “ My sheep hear my voice, and I know them, and they follow me.  I give them eternal life, and they will never perish, and no one will snatch them out of my hand.  My Father, who has given them to me, is greater than all, and no one is able to snatch them out of the Father’s hand.”

Want to fly on an airplane? Cash a check? Be let in a place of employment? Show your identification please. Whether it is a passport, driver’s license or employee badge, our identification tells others our citizenship of a country, a state or place of employment.

As a Christian, do you identify with the teachings of the Bible? Did you get baptized to publicly show you identify with Jesus? We may not hold an ID card or badge, but our words, our actions, our comings and goings should show the world we identify as a Christian, a follower of Christ.

Galatians 3:26-27 “ So in Christ Jesus you are all children of God through faith,  for all of you who were baptized into Christ have clothed yourselves with Christ.”

Ephesians 2:18-19 “ For through him(Jesus) we both have access to the Father by one Spirit. Consequently, you are no longer foreigners and strangers, but fellow citizens with God’s people and also members of his household,”

Definition: the expression of approval, especially by the clapping of hands (Webster)

We clap for sports teams, at concerts, for our children. Why? To show our approval, for a job well done, out of love. As we minister to fellow believers, as we share the gospel message to those outside the family of God, as we teach others in Sunday School, what is our motivation? To hear an atta boy? To be noticed? When Jesus walked this earth, He was preaching, teaching and healing. He did not do it for applause or for the approval of men. Rather, He came to do the will of His Father. “For even the Son of Man did not come to be served, but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.” (Mark 10:45)

As we serve Jesus, let us humble ourselves as we encourage others, as we share the good news, as we teach others. For we do not do it for applause, nor for the approval of men. “ Do your best to present yourself to God as one approved, a worker who does not need to be ashamed and who correctly handles the word of truth.” (2 Timothy 2:15)

If you walk, run, swim, bike or watch sports that do these activities, you have heard the term, “bell lap.” You know a bell rings, signaling to the athlete, “one lap to go.”

In life, do we hear a bell? Do we know when we are on our bell lap? Since none of us know the future or can predict what direction our life will take, we need to live in the present. God tells us to plan for the future but to live for today, for we know not what tomorrow will bring.

So, let us live for today. Let us serve others with a joyful heart. Let us begin our day in the Word thanking God for today. Let us love God and love our neighbors. Let us submit our plans to the Lord today, and walk according to His will.

Good-bye summer. Hello fall. Taking children off to college. Relocating for a new job. Caring for a young family. Being there for aging parents. You get the point. We change. Out of duty. Or circumstances. Or choice.

As a Christian, are you seeing a change in our culture today? People more receptive to talking about Jesus, the bible, church? Praise God! The Holy Spirit, the third member of the Godhead, is reviving hearts and awakening darkened souls. Let us come alongside those who are returning to Jesus or believing for the first time. We welcome them into the family of God. Let us mentor them, counsel, pray, encourage. Saying Yes! to Jesus and following Him is a life altering, eternal destination change of address. So, as you see this wind of change happening, praise God and be about the Master’s business.

Romans 8:11 “ The Spirit of God, who raised Jesus from the dead, lives in you. And just as God raised Christ Jesus from the dead, he will give life to your mortal bodies by this same Spirit living within you.”

If you have ever done a conference call, you know it is a two-step process. You first have to add the second person to the call and secondly, you need to merge them together. If you add but do not merge, the second caller never makes it onto the conference call.

How many of us today have seen someone add Jesus, add church, add a bible study, add a daily devotion, but never hit the merge button. He/She/You are doing a good thing. It feels good, it looks good to the world, but what is the point? If you hear the words of Jesus and like them, if you go to church and hear a feel good message, if you participate in a bible study to add this to your week but you don’t merge your head with your heart, then it’s works without faith. Merging your life to Jesus means saying Yes to His plan of salvation. Your life is not your own anymore. The old you is gone. The new you is here. You are now “in Christ.” You now yield your life, your thoughts, your activities to Him. To follow His will for your life. Attending church now takes on new meaning as you praise and worship your Savior. Your bible study will now convict you, cause you to look internally, to dig deep as you seek to submit and obey His teachings.

Let us make sure our life lines up with our faith and our walk is merging with our Savior.

If you travel frequently by car, you probably have an “E” pass, which allows you to pass through toll lanes quickly, easily and without much hassle. We like shortcuts. We like easy. We don’t always want to slow down. We want to get to where we are going. But in life, we need to slow down. Take inventory of where we are heading: The path. The plan. The purpose.

As a Christian, the path is Jesus. When the path gets overgrown, full of weeds or blown out by trials and storms, pause on the path. Do you need to prune? Reroute? Weed out? Take stock of the path you are walking, beloved. Psalm 119:105 “Your word is a lamp for my feet, a light on my path.”

The plan, of course, is ordained by God. In the gospel of John, Jesus said, ““I am the way and the truth and the life. No one comes to the Father except through me. “(John 14:6) When we walk according to the plan of salvation spelled out in the bible, when we read how to live a godly life in this world and carry out God’s plan for our lives, we have a peace and fellowship with our Savior.

When we walk the path, follow the plan, we have our purpose in God, which is the Great Commission. Matthew 18:19-20a “…go and make disciples of all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the Son and of the Holy Spirit,  and teaching them to obey everything I have commanded you.” As Christians, we find out purpose as we walk a life pleasing to God and pointing others to Christ by Christ-like living.

Which path are you following today? Do you consult God as you make plans for the day, the week, the year? Are you living your life with a God-filled purpose? Check your route. Consult the bible. Pray for wisdom. In all things, seek God. Proverbs 3:5-6 “Trust in the Lord with all your heart; do not depend on your own understanding. Seek his will in all you do, and he will show you which path to take.”

Ah! A nice story. A nice sermon. Feeling good, sitting here in this church pew. Singing some songs, shaking some hands. Same Sunday, week after week. Everything as it should be. Steady on. Don’t rock the boat. Don’t challenge me. I like where I am.

Sound familiar? Do you find yourself in a place of spiritual complacency? Are you self-satisfied, sleepy even? How did this happen? When did I stop reading the bible? Attending Sunday school or bible study? Why do I no longer want to hang around that group of people?

When we become spiritually complacent, we stop being alert, watchful. We start listening to so and so, rather than God. We start following the world, rather than the bible. We listen to the devil as he fills our minds with thoughts that are contrary to God’s word. What happened to being faithful and obedient to God? Is this where you are? If so, beloved, it is not too late. Praise God, your heart is reminded. Your eyes opened. Wake up! Remember! Hold it fast and repent!

Revelation 3:1-3 “I know your deeds; you have a reputation of being alive, but you are dead.  Wake up! Strengthen what remains and is about to die, for I have found your deeds unfinished in the sight of my God.  Remember, therefore, what you have received and heard; hold it fast, and repent.